During a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country doesn’t support insurgents and will never back actions that could jeopardize relations with the neighbouring country.

His statement comes after Britain and the United States accused Iran of providing weapons to extremists fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, allegation denied by Ahmadinejad on Tuesday during his visit to Afghanistan.

“They also say it in Iraq, they say that they discover Iranian made weapons. Iran is a great country and we seriously doubt the truth of this claim,” Iran’s leader said.

“We have already announced our stance: we support the political process in Afghanistan with all our power…the security in Afghanistan has its first impact in Iran, because we have a long border and the longest relationship and it is best for us to have a strong and powerful Afghanistan beside us,” Ahmadinejad also said.

Ahmadinejad left Tuesday Tehran for a state visit to Afghanistan, being expected to leave for Turkmenistan on the same day. His three-nations tour will end in Kyrgyzstan, the Iranian leader aiming at strengthening diplomatic relations with neighbouring countries and shed light on some controversy surrounding his external policy.

He met with Afghan President Karzai and other high-ranked officials in Kabul, before holding a joint press conference with Afghanistan’s leader.

Ahmadinejad reiterated Iran’s support for its neighbour and lashed out once more at Britain and the US for undeservedly accusing Tehran of aiding militants by supplying them with arms.

Karzai outlined the tight relations with Tehran and Washington, saying “both Iran and America are good partners of Afghanistan.”

“Afghanistan is a close friend and a good neighbour to Iran and Iran has the same feeling towards Afghanistan. We are glad that both Iran and America understand and accept the realities in Afghanistan. They are both good partners of Afghanistan,” he said.

Moving on to their talks, the presidents said during Tuesday’s meeting they tackled stressing problems like reconstruction programs in Afghanistan, terrorism in the region and drug traffic, a main source of funds for insurgents.

Tuesday’s interview represented a first for Ahmadinejad, who didn’t visit Afghanistan since being elected president two years ago. He continued the program initiated by his predecessor Mohammad Khatami and directed large sums of money towards Afghanistan’s reconstruction.